How Company IDs work within Marketo

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Issue

You want to understand how Company IDs work within Marketo and how you can interact with these IDs, particularly when dealing with the Person's Company Object. You want to know:

• The nature and standard of the Company ID in Marketo.
• Can the Company ID be checked or modified by users without CRM or API integration?
• If people belonging to the same company share the same Company ID.
• How to update the Company Object information via the API for multiple leads associated with the same company?
• Clarification on which field should be used as the basis for updating Company Object information.

Solution

Marketo manages Company IDs using two distinct identifiers:

1. Company ID: This is a Marketo-specific identifier that is used to organize the link between companies and people within Marketo.
2. External Company ID: A hidden system field used in non-native company object integrations.

The Company ID can be accessed through the {{company.Id}} token, while the External Company ID is not directly viewable in the UI.

Note: The Company Object API endpoints are disabled when a native CRM integration is enabled in a Marketo instance.

Accessing and modifying Company ID

• You cannot manipulate the Company ID or External Company ID fields from the Marketo UI.
• Any interaction or modification of these fields must be done through the Marketo API.

Updating Company Object information via API

When updating the Company Object for multiple leads belonging to the same company:

• Use the External Company ID or company ID to update the Company Object.
• Updating the Company Object with the External Company ID will apply the changes to all leads associated with that company.
• You can also update Company Object fields using the lead API endpoints. These changes will apply to all leads associated to the company.

Steps for updating Company Object

1. Create Company: Use the Marketo API endpoint `{{base_url}}/rest/v1/companies.json` to create a company with the necessary data.
2. Create Person: Use the Marketo API endpoint `{{base_url}}/rest/v1/leads.json` to create a person associated with the company.
3. Field Inheritance: Once a person is linked to a Company Object via the External Company ID, certain fields like Billing City, Address, and Postal Code are inherited from the Company Object and are no longer editable from the UI.
4. Creating Fields on the Company Object: Contact Marketo Support to request the conversion of these person fields to company fields.